Articulated self-propelled railway vehicle



Mar-ch24, 1931. R M. DiLWOFNH ARTICULATED SELF ROPELLHD RATIJWAY VEHICLEFiled Sept.

R o T N E w m 0 N L UUDUDUUDDU Patented Mar. 24, 1931 UNITED STATESPATENT GFFICE RICHARD M. nrtwonrrn, or LAxnwoon, oaro, assrenon 'ro THEELECTRO-MOTIVE comrnmz, or CLEVELAND, 01110, A conronarron or OHIO IABTICULATED SELF-PROPELLED RAILWAY VEHICLE Application filed september14, 1929. Serial 110. 392,588.

This inventionrelates to articulated rail cars of the t pe which areself-propelled by internal combustion means.

l/Vhere an internal combustion engine is thus employed as a prime moverthe required body structure for supporting the same is more rigid andheavy than is necessary or desirable for revenue car usage. Considerableheat, noise and vibration are always attendant upon operation of aninternal combustion engine and are all undesirable in a revenue car. Amaximum weight is of course always desirable on driving trucks whereasminimum weight on trailer trucks is always equally desirable. Thedriving trucks should be arranged as close as possible to their sourceof power. Obviously the revenue portion of the car should be as great aportion of the whole as possible.

The object of the present invention is to provide a car of the classdescribed which shall in consideration of the above, have a greateraverage efliciency as to its component parts and their arrangement andtherefore a greater overall efficiency, than has heretofore beenaccomplished in the art.

To this end I provide a car comprising a forward body section having apower plant including an internal combustion engine, a

pair of driving trucks for supporting the same, transmission meanswhereby said trucks may receive motive power from said power plant, arevenue car body supported at its forward end by the rearward of saidtrucks, and a trailing truck arranged to support the rearward portion ofsaid revenue car body.

The exact nature of the invention together with further objects andadvantages thereof will be apparent from the following description takenin connection with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a sideelevation of'a car representing an embodiment of my invention and Fig. 2is an enlarged detail of the propulsion part of the car, a portion ofthe near side being broken away to show parts therewithin.

With reference now to the drawings, the principal parts of the carvisible from its 50 side are a forward body section 1, rearward therebysuch as the indicated pair of direct connected generators-8. The lengthof this forward section 1' is preferably only sufiicient to accommodatethese parts together with their usual necessary auxiliaries such as fuelsupply, cooling and ignition systems for the engine, compressor for theair brake system and a small space for the operating personnel whichusually comprises one engineer only, the principal part of which spaceis the drivers compartment at the front of the section and indicated bythe windows 13.

The rear body section 2 is relatively long and of light construction;and its sole purpose is for revenue. As shown in Fig. 1 this revenuesection is adapted for passenger traflic as indicated by the windows 9,with a small baggage compartment at its forward end indicated by thebaggage door 10; but it will appreciated that the transportation ofmail, baggage, express, passengers or freight is embraced within theterm revenue. The two sections are arranged in close coupled relationand have the usual doors at their adjoining endsso that a'passagetherebetween is had, the usual bellows 11 being arranged about thepassage way. The rear end of the revenue section may be equipped withcon ling means 12 for draft connection with trai ers whereby a train maybe made up if desired.

The forward truck 3 supports the forward end of the forward section 1.The middle truck 4 supports both the rearward end of the forward section1 and the forward end of the revenue section 2; while the rearward truck5 supports the rearward end of the revenue section 2. It will beappreciated that the mounting of each section ,upon each of its trucksincludes the usuals'wivel connection, each of the trucks being ofmultiple-axle type.

The two forward trucks are drivers, having associated therewith drivingmeans, such as electric motors 14 mounted thereon. Preferably also eachwheel of these trucks is a driven wheel the driving being effected inany convenient manner such as by gearing or by mounting the motorarmatures directly on the axles.

The motors are driven by the generators 8 through suitable transmissionmeans includ ing the usual electric connections and controllers arrangedfor operation by the engineer at the front of the forward section 1.Thus the connections include cables 15 leading from the generators tothe controllers, and cables 16 leading from the controllers to themotors 14. The rearward truck 5 is a trailer.

It will be noted that by the disclosed construction and-arrangement ofthe parts, the

forward section is short, and relatively heavy. Provision for the weightof the prime mover and its associated parts is therefore convenientlyhad. This weight is superimposed solely upon the driving trucks. Thedriving trucks are located closely adjacent their body.

In testimony whereof I hereby aflix my signature.

RICHARD M. DILWORTI source of power so thattransmission problems aresimplified and transmission losses minimized. It will be noted thattwo-axle trucks and therefore of short rigid wheel base, are shown inthe drawings; so that the described concentration of power plant weighton driving wheels does not increase the rigid wheel base which is short.Further, the distribution of weight is even over a large number ofdriving wheels in trucks of short rigid wheel base, the power plantbeing concentrated so as to occupy a minimum of space. By increasing thenumber of uniformly loaded driving wheels while retaining the use oftwoaxle trucks the tractive effort to be trans mitted through any singlebody center plate is reduced. By allowing the use of two-axle trucksunder the power plant the platform height of the power plant section ofthe car is reduced and the space available for cooling increased yetmaintained within the equipment clearance limits of standard railroads.

' On the other hand the revenue section is relatively long weight andthe type of intended.

Thus production; of the forward section which is by far the moreexpensive of the two may be standardized. By mounting the forward end ofthe revenue section upon the rear and may be of the usual light ofconstruction dependent upon revenue service for which it is truck of thepower plant section a longer revenue section. may be provided which willpass over -a greater maximum curvature than would otherwise be possible.The body sections being separate transmission of the heat, sound andvibration which necessarily follow from operation of a power plant ofthe class described, is not transmitted to the revenue section of thecar, the described arrangement providing inherent insulation againstsuch transmission.

